Monday, February 22, 1999
Charter school
acclaim opens new methods to teaching
EDUCATION: Students get attention, but skeptics say
system displaces funds
By Karla Y. Pleitez
Daily Bruin Contributor
President Clinton’s endorsement of charter schools in his State
of the Union Address shows that the popularity of such schools is
rising, and that it may be the way education is heading in the next
millennium.
"My budget assures that in the next century there will be 3,000
charter schools," Clinton said in the address.
Charter schools are independent public schools that are owned
and operated by educators, community leaders and parents. In
California, there are 156 charter schools that began operating in
1992.
Supporters argue that charter schools are necessary because they
provide more attention to individual students – something that the
public school system generally lacks. Critics, however, question
whether charter schools work in practice, saying that such schools
take money away from public schools and only serve predominantly
wealthy areas.
Dag Vega, a spokesman for President Clinton, justified using
funds for charter schools. "The funds and resources intended by the
tax-paying public is for educating our youth," he said.
"It is the students’ and tax payers’ rights to see those
resources used in the most responsible and effective means
possible, to provide an equitable and excellent education to the
next generation of tax-payers," he added.
Yet critics argue that charter schools discriminate because
these choice schools only appeal to the most successful students
and families.
"Charter schools are great, but does every student in the
district really have the choice of attending a charter school?"
asked Carlos Guzman, the bilingual coordinator for Sepulveda Middle
School in North Hills.
Charter school educators say that the schools are open to all
because everyone who applies will be accepted. They also say that
their No. 1 priority is to serve students who were not doing well
in regular public schools.
"Charter schools, just like public schools, are not permitted to
discriminate on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity and religion,"
said Terry Arnold, the principal of Palisades High charter
school.
"We go out of way to include and specifically target those who
are considered ‘at-risk’ students," she added.
Guzman says, however, that charter school policies that grant
preference for those who live around the school area and for the
siblings of students that already attend the school is
discriminatory against the poor and minorities.
"Most charter schools are in upper-middle class neighborhoods,
and the parents who live in the poorer neighborhoods do not know
about schools that may offer their children better education,"
Guzman said.
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) officials also argue
that charter schools are taking the funds needed by Los Angeles’
other schools.
Supporters say that charter schools are public schools, and they
operate primarily with the interest of their students in mind. Some
educators say that charter schools are better than other public
schools precisely because they are separate from the district.
Charter schools are free from the red tape because they are
independent and self-managing, they say.
"There is a lot of bureaucracy and other politics that one must
deal with in public schools," said Yvonne Chan, the principal of a
San Fernando Valley charter school.
"Charter schools do not have to deal with the micro-management
of running a school, and in turn can give more time and attention
to actually bettering the education of their students," she
said.
Still, LAUSD officials fear that charter schools may not provide
their students with a challenging academic curriculum when these
schools are no longer part of the district.
"These schools have been operating for six years now; it’s a
little scary to think what can be happening to our youth," said
Gabriel Monares, a spokesperson for the LAUSD.
"They have complete control and only a small group of people
decides what is right or wrong for those children," he added.
Yet charter schools seem to have the approval of President
Clinton.
"Charter schools provide opportunity for better child-centered
education," Vega said. "They provide the chances for communities to
create the greatest range of educational choices for their
children."
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